Hell Hath No Fury
by Dea Avernorum
Summary: ...like a Lily scorned. Set the same day as 'Nineteen Years Later' - Teddy is confronted by Lily II. For Megsy's First Kiss Challenge


_For Megsy42's 'First Kiss' challenge. _

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Hell Hath No Fury Like a Lily Scorned:

Teddy Lupin found her out by the swing set.

"Lily!" he called. She looked up, and at the sight of her god-brother, spun her swing away from him. "Lily, you haven't talked to me all evening. What's wrong?"

The young girl swung her feet, ignoring him.

"Lily," Teddy sighed. "I thought we could always talk. Why are you avoiding me?"

She kicked at a clump of dirt fiercely.

An idea hit Teddy, and he sat down on the ground next to her swing. "Did your brothers do something before they left for Hogwarts?" he asked.

"No," she said coldly. Teddy reached out to grab the swing's chain, but Lily spun away again, back to its original position.

"Are you missing them?" he ventured.

There was a stronger reaction this time. "Missing them?" she shrieked in disbelief. "I've been waiting for this day my entire life! They can't boss me anymore when they're off at school!"

Teddy smiled at the childish outburst. "Then why've you been avoiding everyone all evening? You've been moping out here ever since _I _got here at the least." His voice grew teasing. "And there's even strawberry shortcake for dessert. I thought it was your favorite, Lily-kins?"

"Don't call me that!" she snapped.

Taken aback, Teddy asked, "Why? I always call you that – ever since you've been born…"

"But now there's _Victoire_," said Lily bitterly.

Oh dear…"What do you mean Victoire?" asked Teddy warily. The two of them had been trying to keep their relationship private in order to not deal with-

"James saw the two of you snogging this morning."

Well _that_ had explained the not-so-discreet looks Teddy had experienced this evening. "So it was something your brother said."

Lily didn't take his not-so-subtle change of topic well. "You promised, Teddy!"

Was it cowardly that Teddy feared this confrontation, more so than the ones between all the Weasley wives combined? Was it the real reason why he hadn't been put into Gryffindor, and instead Ravenclaw, because he'd be such a chicken when it came to announcing his and Victoire's relationship to a tiny slip of a girl?

Lily and Teddy had always been close in a way that was different then with the other Potter children. Teddy had pretty much always been a fixture in James and Albus' life, yet Teddy had pretty much been in school most of the year since around when Lily was born. Because of this, he held a sort of allure to her – and Teddy had done nothing but play it up over the years. Not the wisest of choices, but what's done is done, and unfortunately these actions were about to bite Teddy on his arse.

He'd teased her (gently of course) over the years, giving her gifts, making silly promises and basically spoiled her rotten. Teddy had hoped that Lily would have outgrown it over the years, understanding it was all a game before any oaths would have to be fulfilled…but now Teddy had the offspring of Ginny Weasley – who was renowned for her amazing temper – waiting for his answers, and about to blow.

Lily narrowed his eyes at the orange haired boy. "You said you'd wait for me to grow up." He had. "And you-you said we'd get married and run away together." He had. "To this little cottage by the sea and have unicorns, and the best models of broomsticks." He _had_ said this. "And now you're with Cousin Victoire!" By golly, he was – and had been enjoying the relationship quite a bit until right now.

Oh the joys of a furious Lily…

"Why?" she cried, and tears leaked out the corners of her eyes.

On second thought – scratch that. Now he had a crying Lily on his hands – a furious Lily might have been better, Teddy thought.

"What'd I do?" she wailed, burying her face into her hands. "Why, Teddy? Do I have to change?"

With anyone else the situation probably would have been humorous. However, _he_ was in the situation and wasn't helping matters. He wondered idly as the nine year old sobbed before him, what her brothers, uncles, aunts, and cousins would do if they found out he had made her cry like this.

Teddy winced. He didn't even think Harry would stand up for him. Lily wasn't spoiled only by Teddy…

A plan hit him then. Literally – an acorn fell of the tree the swing hung from, and hit him right on the head. Teddy rubbed his head, and the idea formed.

He crouched down beside the redhead, and pulled her out of the swing and onto his lap. Lily didn't seem to notice the change of seat, and continued to cry. Teddy began to rub small circles on her back, waiting for her to calm down. He didn't say anything – a slight plan, equated with all the horrible scenarios that could come out unless Lily left this confrontation perfectly happy and content. Or something along those lines.

Lily's sobs subsided into hiccups at last. "Sorry," she said quietly.

The plan began to be set into motion. "No, Lily," said Teddy. "I should be apologizing."

"What?" Lily asked, startled.

"I'm the one who owes you an apology," Teddy continued. He shifted Lily so that he could see her face clearly. She was still cute in that little girl way, even with the red splotches allover her face. "I didn't make things clear to you."

"Clear?"

Teddy nodded. "You see, I made all those promises to you Lily…but I never said what was to happen in-between now and then."

Lily cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Well," said Teddy, leaning back against the tree. "We never said we had a binding relationship. We never said we'd keep ourselves from having other relationships."

She was thinking and Teddy continued. "I guess I should have said that our promises are rather – loose."

"Loose?" she asked, curiously. "Do you mean that they can be taken apart easily?"

Teddy winced at the direction that was going and tried to fix it. "That's not really what I meant, Lily. It's sort of a bit of freedom I suppose." Her brow puckered. "Look – it means that you're allowed to date other boys, and I'm allowed to date other girls. We're not bound to just each other until you get out of school."

"But isn't that 'cheating'?" Lily asked.

He shook his head. "Well it's a 'just-in-case' – in case you're lonely and I'm not there you're free to have boyfriends." He was careful to only mention her for now.

"Oh," said Lily. The two sat in silence for a minute or so. "So that's why you were dating Victoire?"

Teddy bit back a filthy swear Lily had no business knowing. How was he getting out of this one?

"You were lonely at school?" she pressed. "And so you dated Victoire – because you knew her. And it's for now, until I get out of school, right?"

The metamorphagus turned the situation around in his head, and realized he wasn't going to get things much better than that. "Yep, Lily you got it right." He smiled. "Are we good now?"

She looked at him suspiciously. "So you still promise everything?"

"I do," Teddy said solemnly. There was no other option. "And here –" Wincing, he grabbed a few strands of his hair and _tugged._ They came out in his hands, and he braided the orange strands together. He'd seen Victoire and the other girls do this before, making friendship bracelets, but this worked. One of the few things not many people knew about metamorphaaguses was that their hair changed color, even when separated from the body – and was remarkably sturdy. His grandmother had said it may have something to do with the fact that it had to be so sturdy to deal with all the magic used in it.

Once done, Teddy took Lily's little hand. He slid the orange ring onto her finger. It was loose – just in case Teddy changed his hair length. He didn't want Lily's circulation cut off. Lastly, he changed his hair color to an apple green. A second later the ring changed as well.

She peered down at it for a long moment – so long, that Teddy wondered if in fact he had done the wrong thing. _St. Mungo's here I come…_

Suddenly, the redhead looked up and there was a brilliant grin on her face. She shot up, wrapping her arms around Teddy's neck and hugged him.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you, Teddy!" she whispered in his ear. "I'll never take it off. Thank you!"

Despite himself (and the slight twinge of guilt in his stomach) Teddy smiled too. "No problem Lily-kins. Are you ready to go back in?"

She moved back a bit, arms resting now on his shoulders. The light little girl was partially kneeling on his lap, making them nearly eye to eye. "One thing first," Lily said, smiling shyly.

Lily moved forwards so quickly that it was her moving away that made Teddy realize what happened. Otherwise he probably would have protested – she was a minor and he was not. He was also more than twice her age (as shocking as that was). And there was the fact that _anyone _could have seen, and probably had told Victoire.

She leaned forward, and put her mouth to Teddy's. It was a tiny, innocent kiss – but Teddy knew that Lily thought of it as much more. A second long at the most, it was over before it started. Giggling shyly, Lily dashed off right after.

Teddy still sat under the shade of the old tree. He watched as the young girl raised her hand to her lips and grinned broadly as she entered The Burrow. From back here he could here her calls of, "Is there any strawberry shortcake left?" and the calls of the rest of the family back.

He shook his head. The Weasleys were a great bunch – their temper and flare for dramatics couldn't be compared. Not to mention their rate of quickening to anger.

Teddy's touched his own mouth but quickly dropped his hand. Sighing, Teddy stood. A job done – another girl entranced – and a problem further delayed. Really, he didn't have much to worry about now…Lily was no longer angry at him, and the Weasley clan wasn't going after him anytime soon…unless Lily told them.

Would she actually do that? Teddy only took one moment to debate, before dashing up to the house. He didn't even try to repress the curse words that spilled out of his mouth.

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_A/N: Reviews are the only payment a fanfic author gets...I own nothing that is mentioned._


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